LANSING, Mich. (MIRS News) – The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission is seeking an independent review of the racial composition of the judges about whom the Commission receives complaints and the disposition of those complaints.

The request follows the Association of Black Judges of Michigan’s (ABJ) concerns that five of the nine public complaints the JTC has brought against judges since 2016 have been against African American judges.

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In a release Tuesday, the JTC analyzed five years of actions – both public and private – according to the race of the judge involved and concluded the “data show no significant racial disparity with respect to judicial misconduct that warrants a public complaint.”

In that April report from JTC Executive Director Lynn Helland, the JTC admonished a judge on 21 different occasions. Five of those were African American judges. Those five, however, represent only three Black judges as two judges each received two admonishments, while 15 white judges were admonished.

Since 2016, Helland’s report noted that 40 judges – six Black and 34 white – were cautioned or given a special dismissal. And, in that time frame, 17 judges – two Black – resigned or retired while under investigation.

The JTC attributes the disparity the ABJ notices to a larger number of white judges choosing to leave the bench while the Black judges proceed to a hearing.

“Though the Commission believes its case dispositions show no actual or deliberate racial disparity, the Commission recognizes that this is a very important issue and that the public will have more faith in the fairness of its decisions if their racial composition is reviewed by an independent auditor,” the JTC said in a statement this afternoon. “Of course, if an independent auditor identifies an actual racial disparity in the Commission’s actions that we have overlooked and that is not explained by the choices made by the judges under investigation, the Commission certainly wants to know about that and understand the reasons for it.”